Someone use science to explain some of the skill affixes on items to me

Someone use science to explain some of the skill affixes on items to me

I know that it's just datamined info, and things could be different, but for the sake of discussion, let's assume that what we see now is what we're going to get.

To me, when I see something like: "+14% damage Spectral Blades", isn't it effectively the same as saying "+14 Intelligence when using Spectral Blades"?

14 Intelligence as a high-level item affix isn't a lot and it's even worse when it applies only to a SINGLE skill.

I can understand cooldown-reduction item affixes, but the ones that grant +% damage (up to 14%) seem so tiny to me. Surely even a caster character would favour rolling +75 Strength than what is effectively only +14 Intelligence for a SINGLE skill, right?